INTERVIEW WITH SHARON ON BLOG TALK RADIO, “SECRETS OF THE QIGONG MASTERS”

CLICK HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW WITH SHARON

November 2009 – The Astrological Weather

Saturn

On October 29, 2009, Saturn moved into Libra ending 2 and half years in Virgo, the sign of work and health.   It will remain there through October 5, 2012 with the exception of a short retrograde into Virgo from April 7, 2010 through July 21, 2010. It’s a whole new ballgame for everyone with relationships moving front and center.   This is a potentially difficult transit since Saturn is also squaring Pluto in Capricorn on November 15, 2009 and on July 26, 2010 will oppose Uranus in Aries.   Whether you are firmly committed or looking for a companion, this transit will test your ability to relate to other human beings like nothing else can.

Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn is exalted in Libra.  That means that Saturn acts like the honored guest at the dinner party.  Very concerned with responsibilities and commitments, Saturn in Libra wants to be a peacemaker, a unifier, a reconciler but he’s always up for a fair fight if justice is a question.

I think of Saturn as the building inspector.  As he transits through the zodiac and around my natal chart, he has the annoying but necessary task of finding out exactly what I have been neglecting and reminding me that it’s time to take care of it.

Compound this with Pluto’s square from Capricorn, and we’re all dealing with major dilemmas and issues regarding our relationships.  Libra is an air sign and operates from an idealistic place.  Pluto in Capricorn is concerned with a major transformation of the social order. Imbalances in judgment trouble Saturn and lack of control sparks Pluto’s motivation to maintain power.

Saturn says, ” Sharon, you have a hole in the roof here and the rain has been coming in for God knows how long.  What are you going to do about it?” I groan, I want to bury myself under the covers, but can’t because I’ll get drenched if I don’t start working on it right now.  Yesterday would have been even better but whatever…the task always seems endless and the results are never immediate.

Pluto in Capricorn can be like a steamroller. It’s all about the evolution of the social order come hell or high water and some people seem to have experienced both.  Capricorn has to do with who’s in power, the mastery of the material plane, as well as our material resources.  We feel Pluto’s workings on our current economic situation, necessitating a major change in values in order to make our world sustainable on the most basic level.

Like an army of termites eating away at the foundation of whatever house it’s transiting, we live with our problems until Pluto creates a crisis.  All of a sudden, we feel the floor crumbling beneath us.  How did that happen? You pick up the pieces and like Humpty Dumpty, hope that you can put it back together again.  Or even better, you make a major move.  The universe has done for you what you were unable to do for yourself.

So wherever Saturn is transiting in your horoscope right now, the roof is leaking and wherever Pluto is, it feels like you’ve fallen into a hole. Sounds like fun, huh?

Coming to all cardinal sign natives born the 21 – 28 of March, June, September, or December, but the truth is, all of us are affected. Look at your sun sign and ascendant if you know it.

Aries – Your partner’s needs conflict with your career goals; Taurus – Daily work life and health get in the way of your desire to expand into the bigger world; Gemini – Is it possible to have both love and sex in the same experience? Cancer – Wanting (or having!) a live-in partner and domestic life and maintaining the peace without giving up your integrity; Leo – Keeping a good mental attitude while dealing with pressure at work; Virgo – Having enough money to pursue your creative goals; Libra – Taking yourself seriously while struggling with your emotions and the family dynamic; Scorpio – Letting go of guilt over past actions while clarifying your communication with siblings (and other relatives) and neighbors; Sagittarius – Formulating a new goal for your future while pursuing money right now; Capricorn – What else? It’s all about your career;   Aquarius – Contemplating the right thing to do without sabotaging yourself ; Pisces – Wondering…is it a sexual relationship I need or a good friendship?

October 2009 – The Astrological Weather or Why It’s Easy to Be Upset These Days

It feels like a strange time.  Besides the usual 21^st century concerns about global warming, the economy, and tribal warfare, now we have to worry about this:

On June 18, 2009, several days after the Jupiter retrograde station in Aquarius (June 15), NASA launched LCROSS from Cape Canaveral, a so-called scientific mission that will target a “centaur rocket” at the moon. On October 9 at approximately 7:30 AM EDT, this spacecraft will create an explosion on the moon’s south pole that will leave a crater displacing several miles of lunar material. According to NASA, the rocket will hit the moon at twice the speed of a bullet, transforming two tons of mass and 10 billion joules of kinetic energy into a blinding flash of heat and light. The impact is expected to throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km visible from earth.

As expected from an entertainment-oriented culture, the impact will be televised on NASA Live TV and broadcast at official events all over the U.S. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/impact/event_index.html

NASA subscribes to the view that the Moon is a dry, lifeless rock in space and the ostensible reason for this mission is to find out if there is water on the moon.  But the truth is that this is unnecessary.  India has already announced that there is moisture on the moon.

On October 9 (the projected day of impact), Mars will conjunct the south node of the Moon in the sign of Cancer. very close to the  degree of the solar eclipse in July (see earlier blog entry, Eclipse Mania).  The Moon rules the sign of Cancer, and Mars is the planet of the action principle. On a bad day, Mars moves from healthy self-assertion to in-your-face aggression.   Mars is uncomfortable in this moody, emotional sign since its desire nature is predicated on whether or not someone feels like taking action and Mars (the warrior principle at home in Aries) usually just wants to get on with it and see some results.

Conjuncting the south node of the Moon is doubly difficult since the south node is a place where we are addicted to an old behavior pattern, something that we run to without awareness or consciousness. The sign of Cancer is about the female (yin) principles of receptivity, security, nurturing, hunger, relationship with the mother, creativity, fertility, and children.

Think about the symbolism of this blast at the Moon.  It’s not only an attack on our closest neighbor in space, but a dramatic revelation about unconscious aggression against the female principle, an old behavior pattern that is being acted out without awareness.

I am not an investigative journalist so I can’t speculate as to what this is really about.  (here’s an interesting viewpoint….http://rense.com/general86/moonbomb.htm) However,  like any Taoist (or Trekkie for that matter), I trust my gut feeling and right now, it’s screaming at me that this is a  hostile act — a violation of  the International Space Treaty as well as  Star Trek’s prime directive.

From June 15 – October 13, Jupiter in Aquarius has been retrograde roughly coinciding with the flight of this mission and its eventual impact.  Maybe humanity has been asleep during this period while the spacecraft is heading to its destination.  Hopefully, we will wake up before it’s too late.

For what it’s worth, some people think contacting President Obama will make a difference.

I don’t know.  Personally, I’m hoping for a renegade NASA employee, mechanical failure or interference by celestial beings whose major concern is maintaining the integrity of this beautiful universe.

An Unforgettable Meal in Kyoto

 

I experienced an unforgettable meal in Japan thanks to my friend and colleague, Masahiro Ouchi  who suggested that I stay at the traditional ryokan, Kanamean in Kyoto.  It was way more expensive than my budget allowed but I decided that I wanted to have dinner there since it seemed like such a special place.  It was a stretch for me financially, but I decided to go for the 12,000 yen meal (about $140) since I knew it was doubtful that I would ever do it again.

It was a great decision and a very interesting experience.

When I arrived,  I was greeted by a charming man and 2 kimono-clad women who escorted me to a private tatami dining room.  I sat on the floor at a low table looking out over a small but beautiful garden. I was brought a small cup of sake with a few yellow chrysanthemum leaves floating in it and some sashimi covered with chestnut.

In two and a half hours, I was served  an 8-course meal —  each course  more beautiful than the last.   The high points included 3 perfect edamame placed on a leaf ….a tiny, flawless quail egg suspended in fish aspic…4 small slices of the perfect pear delicately topped by a shiso leaf…snapping turtle soup…barracuda sushi (those were the weird things)…sake served in bamboo…..miso soup, rice, & pickles….green tea.

Sake served in Bamboo

The food was incredibly healthy and served in minuscule portions (a bite or 2 of a number of things, mostly fish and vegetables) that exploded with flavor in your mouth.  It was beautifully presented on exquisite pottery accented by seasonal elements of the natural world – bright red maple leaves, sheaves of wheat, gingko nuts. Every bite completely delicious and fulfilling. Every bite to be savored and enjoyed.

I’ve traveled all over the world and had many memorable meals  (some of them cooked by myself, friends or family) but this one was unique. Even though in terms of quantity, there wasn’t much of it, around the 6th course, I realized how full I was.  The aesthetics of the presentation and the exquisite flavors combined to provide a fullness of experience that was completely satisfying but difficult to describe.

I know that a meal like this is not for those who are literally starving but it made me think about the place that hunger and satisfaction occupy in our lives.  When we say we’re hungry, are we hungry for food or for something else?

Is it possible to feed ourselves on beauty?

Koi, Kyoto, Japan

©Photographs by Sharon Smith
All rights reserved

Doi Sakhet Temple in Chiang Mai

Near Tao Garden in Doi Sakhet is a beautiful Buddhist temple that has the most contemporary wall paintings I have ever seen in Thailand.  A young Thai artist took 4 years to paint them and they look like an acid trip was his inspiration.

According to my friend and colleague, Dirk Al (who spent some time as a monk in Thailand), around 70% of the males in Thailand have been monks at one time or another since it is considered part of becoming a man (an initiation to some degree) and there are some families that cannot afford to care for their children. The monastery is considered to be a safe place for them.

Because of the conditioning of the culture around sexuality, men in the monastery receive the Buddhist training that enlightens them to know what to do at the moment of death. Women, well, women on the other hand are left out of the equation.  Their initiation is often prostitution.  So you have this extreme of celibacy on the one hand and prostitution on the other.  Our cultural neurosis has tacitly encouraged and supported this division which began to firmly take hold in Thailand with the American service men who went to Bangkok during the Vietnam War.

You can truly see here the global implication of the mind/body split that is prevalent throughout the world. The western cultures have exported their sexual frustrations and imbalances to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam with their sex tours and patronizing of the sex industry in these countries which has in turn, supported the sexism of the prevailing organized religion (Theravada Buddhism) here.

Monks eat only one meal a day and they must beg for it. When I am at Tao Garden, we often take an early morning excursion to visit the temple and buy food for the monks. Their chanting is a blessing given to those who feed them.

Bomb Scare at LaGuardia

I was at LaGuardia airport this morning awaiting my flight on United Airlines to Bangkok via Chicago and Shanghai when the airport was paralyzed by an unbalanced individual who was obviously looking for some media attention claimed to have a bomb in his backpack.  As we all know by now, this was eventually proven to be a hoax although a costly one for anyone flying today.

The concourse was evacuated and passengers were herded this way and that until they figured out what to do with us. Finally, after standing around on the runway for half and hour, we were taken to the US Air terminal and told to wait until further notice.

Several hours later it was clear that it would be highly unlikely that I would make it to Chicago to connect to the second flight to Shanghai.  I called United and was put on hold for 30 minutes the first time, spoke to someone, and was again put on hold.  I was told that they were making 2 reservations for me as a backup.  Then followed a series of communications and miscommunications from robocalls.  Everyone told me something different about my flight as well as about my luggage which had already been checked through. Finally, I realized that I should just yield to the situation and wait until tomorrow to take a flight out of JFK   

Although I can understand that this was an unusual situation, the airline seemed ill equipped to deal with the amount of dysfunction something like this can cause. Airline personnel were hard to find, and if you called United, you spent most of the time on hold.  When you did finally reach a real human voice, they were confused about something as crucial as what would happen to your baggage if you took a flight from a different airport.  I was told by 2 people that my baggage would fly on the same plane with me and then when I received another robocall that mistakenly had me on a flight out of Chicago, I reached a baggage agent who said he didn’t have any idea how my baggage would arrive at my destination.

Hello???

This is the 21st century.  Shouldn’t airlines have policies in place to deal with emergencies like this one? 

On another note, this was a perfect manifestation of the Moon in Sagittarius square Saturn in Virgo which was exact at 6:44AM EDT. Not the best aspect for traveling….

ECLIPSE MANIA! SOLAR ECLIPSE at 29 Cancer

On July 21, the sun will be eclipsed at 10:35 PM EDT and the world (or at least that part of the world with the biggest population – India and China and places surrounding them) will be plunged into darkness for approximately 6 minutes.  A wonder of nature,  this eclipse is the longest eclipse of the 21st century.

So what does it mean when the sun disappears?

From time immemorial, earthlings have pondered this question and superstitions abound in every culture. Many cultures believed that a demon or dragon ate the sun. In Hindu mythology, the two demons Rahu and Ketu are said to “swallow” the sun during eclipses, snuffing out its life-giving light and causing food to become inedible and water undrinkable. Pregnant women are advised to stay indoors to prevent their babies from developing birth defects, while prayers, fasting and ritual bathing, particularly in holy rivers, are encouraged because temples are often closed. In ancient times, the Chinese believed that a heavenly dog or dragon devoured the sun during the eclipse. As the story goes, people would make noise to scare off the dog and rescue the sun. In the Odyssey, Homer states that, “the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal.”

Negative people make a living off of doomsday predictions.  But the truth is that solar (as well as lunar) eclipses are natural phenomena.  They usually happen twice a year although occasionally there are three of them. Often, secrets are revealed at this time or an awareness becomes apparent that sheds new light on something.

The eclipse can be either a south or north node eclipse. This particular one is at 29 degrees of Cancer meaning the Sun and Moon are together with the south node of the Moon.  The south node is a place where we are addicted to an old behavior pattern, something that we run to without awareness or consciousness. The sign of Cancer is about security, nurturing, hunger, relationship with the mother, creativity, fertility, and children.  The south node in Cancer is about clinging to these things to avoid whatever they’re covering up.

So wherever one has 29 degrees of Cancer in their personal horoscope will be the arena where this eclipse is operating.  Those born from July 17-22, October 17-22, January 17-22, and April 17-22 are most affected but most of us will feel the eclipse as a nagging dissatisfaction with something we are involved with compulsively.

Look at your sun sign and ascendant if you know it:

Aries – creating a home and being a parent; Taurus – being heard; Gemini – making money; Cancer – doing it all yourself; Leo – hiding out in work or not working; Virgo – being a team player; Libra – getting recognition from the powers that be; Scorpio – leaving your community for foreign shores; Sagittarius – gratifying your desires; Capricorn – considering your partner more than yourself; Aquarius – working and taking care of yourself; Pisces – kids and your creativity

Since solar eclipses happen at the New Moon, they signify a time of new beginnings but you often have to proceed on faith because  the light is blocked. Since eclipses come in 19 year cycles,  whatever seeds you plant now will take 19 years to bear fruit.

If you think that’s a long time, consider this.  The Queen Mother of the West (a Taoist goddess) was fortunate enough to have a peach tree of immortality in her garden.  Blossoming only once every 3000 years, it took another 3000  years for the immortal peach to finally ripen.

International Tai Chi Symposium – What is the State of the Art????

Master Chen Zhenglei, one of the "4 Tigers"

Newsflash!

• Barack Obama studied with Chen Tai Chi Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei in 1998!

• According to the latest studies, Tai Chi practitioners were found to be more relaxed than yoga practitioners after one year of practice.  In fact, the yoga practitioners were more stressed than when they started!

• After just 2 weeks of Tai Chi class, people with osteoarthritis reported major improvements, including weight loss and better pain management.

These are some of the more interesting tidbits of information that I picked up at the International Tai Chi Symposium held in Nashville, Tennessee from July 5-11.  This historic event brought together the grandmasters of the 5 major families of Tai Chi Chuan (Wu, Wu-Hao, Yang, Chen, and Sun for those who might not be aware of the fine distinctions) for the first time in a spirit of education and cultural exchange with 400 Tai Chi practitioners, teachers, students and academic and medical researchers who are committed to bringing Tai Chi into the 21st century.  Given the traditional secrecy associated with the various family styles, sometimes it felt like all of the Mafia dons of New York and New Jersey were having a major pow-wow!

Master Ma Hailong, Master Wu Wenhan, Master Yang Zhenduo, Master Chen Zhenglei, Master Sun Yongtian

3 of these guys were elders (75 to mid-80’s) and the other 2 were middle-aged holders of the family lineage.  Having lived and breathed Tai Chi since childhood,  watching them do their forms was witnessing the fruits of years and years of practice. They were inspirational examples of the best that Chinese martial arts offer.

We listened to all the grandmasters hold forth in a keynote speech translated for the audience and then attempted to learn a 16 movement routine in each style; watched beautiful demonstrations by them, their students, and other luminaries of the world of internal arts; heard panel discussions on academic and medical research on Tai Chi; listened to new and creative applications of Tai Chi for special populations, and contemplated the future of the art with new and old Tai Chi friends.

It was a very male, China-centric event with many toasts, speeches, endless clapping and self-congratulation at such a historic moment.  Women took a secondary role throughout the symposium.  Master Helen Wu

Master Helen Wu

and Master Zifang Su Master Zifang Su, the two female masters,  gave pre-conference seminars and most participants did not even know they were there until the last demonstration. Two of the daughters helped their fathers teach and to their credit, did an excellent job, particularly Chen Zhenglie’s daughter, a very fine Chen style practitioner. In a poignant footnote to the value of women in Chinese culture, a local Nashville charity – Annabelle’s Wish – made regular pitches for financial donations to help the orphanages in China that are primarily full of unwanted girls due to China’s family planning policy.

Master Zifang Su demonstrating self-defense applications w/ her son

One Grandmaster stated that one must understand Chinese culture in order to understand Tai Chi.  A Chinese master currently living in Kansas City rebutted this with a statement that I feel is more true at this stage of Tai Chi’s development.  He said the truth was that you couldn’t really understand Tai Chi unless you understand physics.  Ah so!  I can get behind that one.

It’s important to note that Buddhism developed differently in China than it did in Japan or Tibet.  It seems reasonable that Tai Chi will also have its own developmental trajectory and develop a distinctly western (if not American) flavor since it will inevitably be influenced by what’s going on here. This will not be the classicism of the original as represented by these 5 grandmasters, but a meditational movement form that will be influenced by scientific and medical advances, the fitness industry, and all of the so-called New Age movement styles (Feldenkrais, Authentic Movement, etc.).  After all, most people here although they are interested in the self-defense applications, practice Tai Chi for their health.   It seems logical that Tai Chi as well as other practices from the East (yoga included)  will necessarily evolve as the culture does — becoming more nurturing, less hierarchical, and less male-dominated.

©Photographs by Sharon Smith
All rights reserved.

Click here for more pictures of the Grandmasters.

Master Sun Yongtian (the Fighter) w/ his student

Master Yang Zhenduo, the "Dalai Lama" of Tai Chi

Master Wu Wenhan, the Intellectual

Master Ma Hailong, the Aesthete

Hexagrams for a Recession- Hexagram 15 changes to 39

Hexagram 15 changes to Hexagram 39
Recession Advice?

A few weeks ago, our I Ching group asked the Sage how to respond to what’s going on “right now”.  We received Hexagram #15 – Modesty (also known as Humility, Moderation, Integrity, Authenticity, Humbleness, and Humbling) with the 5th line changing, creating Hexagram #39 – Obstruction (other names for it include Limping, Difficulties, Impasses, Obstacles, and Hindrance).

Sometimes we link the 2 hexagrams in a kind of haiku. You can play around with these but here are some possibilities.

If  Modesty, then Obstruction.
If you are not Humble, then Hardship.
Modesty then Hindrance.
Integrity but Obstacles.
Humility while Limping. (I like this one…)
Humbleness becomes Obstruction.

Digging deeper….

Hexagram 15 – “Modesty creates success.  The superior man carries things through. “ – Wilhelm.

Al Huang’s translation says, “The superior person decreases what is excessive and increases what is scarce.

He weighs things and makes them balance”

In Hexagram 15, Earth sits above the Mountain.  The receptive, soft, and quiet power of Earth (maximum yin) is on top of the mountain. Or you could say that the strength of the Mountain is inside the Earth, the ultimate yin, yielding force. Modesty is considered one of the highest and most valued virtues in Chinese culture.

According to Stephen Karcher’s Total I Ching, Myths for Change, “Humbling” has a connection to a mythical dream animal, ”the grey one – a rat-headed hamster”. Our grey friend is a real animal – a solitary creature, untamable, living in a system of burrows and tunnels where he protects his storehouse of food.  Prone to sudden attacks, he can appear without warning.  Our group always has a good laugh as we imagine encountering an unattractive 2-foot tall rodent standing on its hind legs, the contradiction between his animal nature and his human stance puzzling. What a strange being! According to Karcher, The Grey One is an immediate mythological link to the moment when a need is filled through some unconscious power moving in an underworld way. This is the moment of “Humbling”.

Other texts advise us that being humble brings out a great harvest.

The translations and interpretations of the changing line # 5 can be confusing. Here are a few possibilities.

From Al Huang:  “Not being wealthy
Together with his neighbors
Favorable to engage in subjugation
Nothing is unfavorable.”

The Sage seems to be asking us to humble ourselves and work with others to attack our problems aggressively in order to solve them.

From Wilhelm:  “No boasting of wealth before one’s neighbor.
It is favorable to attack with force.
Nothing that would not further.”

Don’t confuse weak good nature with modesty.  If necessary, act boldly but without inflation.

Sounds like sane advice. Now here comes the tricky part. The changing 5th line gives us #39 – Obstruction (aka Hardship, Limping, Hindrance) as the relating figure.  Modesty changes to Obstruction????  Doesn’t sound so wonderful.

“The southwest furthers.  The northeast does not further.  It furthers one to see the great man.  Perseverance brings good fortune.” – Wilhelm

Hexagram #39 is The Pit (Water) over Mountain.  Danger over Limitation. A time of difficulty and slow, painstaking movement.  The Sage advises us to hook up with others.  Find friends and helpers in this difficult time. The northeast is said to relate to the past and lonely striving (the enemy attacks from this direction); the southwest means common effort and future good.

Mythologically this hexagram is connected to the hero, Yu, the Great, the limping god. He was known to confront all difficulties with unceasing toil and great adaptability. His movement is a dance, a shuffling step, backwards and forwards.

Karcher says,
“Bad influence going, exorcise it! Seeds of good are coming”.

Does this apply to you? What do you think?

SPRING MUSINGS – MARS CONJUNCT URANUS IN PISCES

SPRING MUSINGS – MARS CONJUNCT URANUS IN PISCES

In the Taoist philosophy of 5 phases of transformation, the Wood energy corresponds to spring — upward moving chi, impetus, development, the force of growth that has its own agenda. Integrating this understanding of  the natural state of things during this season with the particulars of western astrological “weather” can be enlightening.  This week (April 15th to be exact), Mars conjuncts Uranus in Pisces after having  opposed Saturn on the day that Pluto went retrograde in Capricorn.

In plain English,  the action principle is teaming up with the principle of radical unexpected change after a period of frustration. It’s clear that there’s alot of frustration and potential for explosive anger in the world at the moment and the energetic environment seems more palpably charged than usual.  As much as you need relaxation and escape from the tension of just being alive right now, stay away  from drugs, alcohol, and depressing media stories.  Meditate, swim if you can, practice Qigong, Tai Chi, or yoga.   If you know the 6 Healing Sounds, they can be your best friend during this time.

Mars needs alot of activity and when he’s been stymied and suddenly becomes free,  energy can start busting out all over the place.  When Mars hooks up with Uranus in Pisces, it’s easy to become hyperactive, tense, and high strung as you surf the Neptunian waters of your unconscious.  Erratic behavior and bizarre or quirky reactions can can make you think that  you’ve suddenly lost it (whatever “it” is).  If it’s possible, bring some awareness to whatever you’ve been suppressing so that you can avoid an explosion.  For some of us,  this  is easy.  For others, we don’t even know why we’ve been acting strangely and may need the “shock treatment” that this aspect brings in order to make necessary changes.

Stay grounded by slowing down, eating well, and exercising in moderation and with care. Be careful with sharp objects (knives, needles, etc.), fire, and electricity. If you’re not using your Mars energy well, it could be using you.  “Mars Attacks” can manifest as accidents while moving, car crashes, inflammation, fever, palpitations, or weird undiagnosable infections.

Anyone born from the 12th to the 17th of March, June, September, or December or who has planets or angles from 22-26 degrees in mutable signs will be most affected.

©Photograph by Sharon Smith
All rights reserved